Sunday, 17 March 2013

The Relatively Spoiler Free 7(b) Round Up...

Time for a round-up of what we know so far about the forthcoming episodes, which commence on Saturday 30th March with:

The Bells of Saint John
A present day "urban thriller" story revolving around alien infiltration of Wi-Fi and social networks - written by Moffat.
Celia Imrie guest stars.
Robots called Spoonheads.
Clara is a present day nanny.
Doctor and Clara on a motorbike.
Doctor and Clara on a 'plane, after the TARDIS materialises there with the crew and passengers unconscious.
A prequel to be shown from the Saturday before transmission.
An implausible stunt? Is the image of the Doctor and Clara bursting out of London's Shard building actually part of the story?
Speculation: The monks seen in the Christmas trailer. Might they point the Doctor where to go to first find Clara?SFX have some spoiler-free hints here (they saw the preview):http://www.sfx.co.uk/2013/03/18/first-look-at-doctor-who-the-bells-of-saint-john/
They say this has the most "striking" pre-credit sequence ever...

The Rings of Akhaten
Written by Neil Cross.
The dessicated alien in a glass container, and the goggle-eyed aliens.
Egyptian imagery.
The trailer clip with the Doctor and Clara entering a room full of different aliens.

Plot-wise, still a bit of a mystery. Is Akhaten the alien, or the planet? No significant guest stars either.

Cold War
Mark Gatiss' tale about an Ice Warrior loose on a Soviet submarine under the Arctic ice.
Liam Cunningham is the commander.
David Warner appears in the background of part of the US trailer in civilian clothes - so maybe a scientist?
Base under siege story-telling. Nothing wrong with that...

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Neil Cross again.
Was previously "The Hider In The House" or "Phantom of the Hex".
Haunted house / ghost story.
Characters in Victorian costume seen during filming.
Dougray Scott some kind of paranormal investigator.
His dufflecoat implies not contemporary - maybe 1950's or 60's?

Journey To The Heart Of The TARDIS
Written by Stephen Thompson.

Lots of scenes in the trailers of the Doctor running down corridors - perhaps TARDIS ones?
Moffat says he was very disappointed by the TARDIS interior seen in The Invasion of Time - so expect much better.
I have read somewhere about a salvage crew called the Van Baalens.
Ashley Walters guests - I'm assuming he's a Van Baalen.
Does the TARDIS crash and the Doctor has to fight off salvagers taking his ship?

The Crimson Horror
A tentative title for Mark Gatiss' second script.
Victorian era.
Dame Diana Rigg and her daughter, Rachel Stirling, guest.
Return of the Paternoster Gang.
A melodrama, so expect lots of dark, twisted humour.

The Last Cyberman
Written by Neil Gaiman.
Cybermen - obviously.
New design, plus a new Cyber creature.
Alien world containing an abandoned theme park.
Jason Watkins, Tamzin Outhwaite and Warwick Davis amongst the guest cast.

Finale?

Maybe this?

Or maybe this lot?
The top hatted creatures might well be from "The Crimson Horror".
All we do know is that Moffat has come up with a new scary monster that moves very slowly.
River Song is in this.
A clip in the new trailer has the top hatters beside a headstone on which we can just glimpse the last three letters - "ONG". If it's River - we already know she dies in The Library. Or does she...?
Moffat has said something about someone going into the Doctor's past to kill him. River, in this, or is he going on to talk about the 50th Anniversary tale?
Moffat has also hinted the return of an old villain - but not sure of which story (or which villain) this could refer to.
We know that this story is (at least partially) set in Victorian Glasgow.
By this point we will know what Clara is all about.
The Doctor's greatest secret is going to be revealed, according to Moffat.
He also reminds us that he lies.

About Me

A Dr Who fan of long-standing, and not a little sitting / lying down. I work for a homeless (and other vulnerable groups) charity in Central London. No wife, no kids - so generally have a quiet life. Love history, reading, theatre, cinema and BBC4. Never ITV2.